We all know Instagram isn’t really good for anyone—but it’s especially not good for teenagers. Facebook’s own data (made public last fall, before Meta was a thing) showed Instagram’s negative mental health impacts on teen users, though some say the broader research doesn’t support such clear conclusions.
Regardless, if you’re a parent or caregiver of a teen, you may want a little bit more insight into their Instagram usage. Meta recently introduced a set of parental controls called Supervision, which offer limited monitoring capabilities and are only available in the United State thus far.
While this new function allows parents and guardians to set time limits for app use and receive updates on who teens are following (and who is following them), it must be initiated by the teen’s account. In the future, Meta indicates caregivers will be able to set up Supervision as well as set the hours for when their teen can access Instagram.
Here’s how to make use of what Supervision offers so far.
How to set up supervision on Instagram
For now, teens ages 13–17 must initiate a Supervision request by sending an invite to their parent or guardian, who must also have an Instagram account (or create one).
Have your teen open their Instagram app, go to their profile page, and tap the three vertical lines in the top right. Tap Settings > Supervision > Next. Select Set up supervision and select how you want to send the invite link to the parent or guardian.
To accept an invite, open Instagram and sign into your account you want to use to supervise. Then open the invite link in whatever messaging app was used, which will pull up the Instagram Family Center. Tap Next > Accept Invite.
How to adjust Supervision features on Instagram
To change your teen’s Instagram time limit, go to Settings > Supervision > Accounts you supervise and select your teen’s account. Tap Set limit, select the limit, and hit Save. You can also see their time on Instagram in the last 7 days here.
You can also view your teen’s follower and following lists. Once you select your teen’s account, tap Followers and following > See more.
